Hands-on: 4K / UltraHD on the PC

Our first hands-on experience with 4K monitors

By Koen CrijnsMonday February 3, 2014 12:58 AM

Introduction

If you can afford to spend a few thousand quid on a computer screen, you can buy yourself an UltraHD or 4K monitor. But does your PC support such high resolutions? What do you need to get the most out of it, both as professional and as a gamer?

Last year August we reviewed our first 4K monitor, the 31.5-inch Sharp PN-K321N with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. That's four times Full HD and will set you back about $4,999 (£3,195). The ASUS PQ321QE, which uses the exact same Sharp IGZO panel, is a little more affordable at around £2,980 / €3,400. In December we tested the Dell UP2414Q 24" 4K monitor, which should be available for a much more reasonable €1,450 including VAT (about £1,225).

It's clear that these types of monitors are still reserved for early adopters, but in the coming years those excessive prices will of course come down a lot. In this article we will examine how you use a monitor like this and how to get the most out of 4K resolution. This isn't a given, because operating systems such as Windows aren't quite up to the task (yet).